Deck 6: Human Adaptation: Life at High Altitude

Question 1

The basic biological adaptation of humans happened in

A) China.
B) western Europe.
C) the tropics.
D) near the Arctic.

Answer 1

the tropics.

Question 2

Living at high altitudes

A) is not a major stressor for the human lifestyle.
B) is pleasant because it is cool and lacks wind.
C) can be unpleasant because of increased solar radiation.
D) results in a long growing season.

Answer 2

can be unpleasant because of increased solar radiation.

Question 3

Hypoxia

A) is oxygen deficiency which results in impairment of bodily function.
B) can be unpleasant but is not dangerous.
C) is only dangerous if it is combined with bad nutrition.
D) prevents human from living at high altitudes.

Answer 3

is oxygen deficiency which results in impairment of bodily function.

Question 4

Hypoxia is the result of

A) higher barometric pressure at higher altitudes.
B) lower barometric pressure at higher altitudes.
C) higher barometric pressure at low altitudes
D) lower barometric pressure at low altitudes

Question 5

Which of the following is/are factors which can exacerbate the stress of living at high altitudes?

A) short growing season.
B) cold.
C) wind.
D) any or all of these

Question 6

The term gas exchange refers to the process by which

A) the human body inhales carbon dioxide and exhales oxygen.
B) plants give off carbon dioxide and the atmosphere converts it to oxygen.
C) the human body inhales oxygen and exhales carbon dioxide.
D) plants take up oxygen and give off carbon dioxide.

Question 7

The Spanish conquistadores, when they invaded the Inca Empire,

A) found that their Spanish wives had no problem giving birth at high altitudes.
B) found they had to move their animals and their wives to lower latitudes to give birth.
C) rode a hydrogen balloon to chase the last of the Inca.
D) discovered that Inca women never gave birth at high altitudes.

Question 8

Coca leaves

A) are important to the high altitude adaptation of the people of the Andes to help ward off the effects of high altitude.
B) are used to produce opium.
C) were domesticated in the 18^th century for the production of cocaine.
D) are made into a tea substance and injected.

Question 9

In high altitude Tibet, the people

A) have very high hemoglobin.
B) have hemoglobin about the same as Tibetans who live at low altitudes.
C) have very small lungs.
D) live at lower altitudes than the people of the Andes.

Question 10

The production of nitric oxide (NO)

A) is good for the heart in the high altitudes.
B) can be alternated with oxygen in the lungs.
C) plays no role in high altitude adaptation.
D) may help the people of Semien Plateau of northern Ethiopia adapt to high altitude.

Question 11

The basic biology of humans is that of a dweller of the tropical latitudes.

Question 12

High altitude is considered to be above 3000 feet.

Question 13

Air pressure is the same at the equator as it is at high latitudes.

Question 14

Solar radiation can be very intense at high altitudes.

Question 15

There is variation in human physiological adaptations to high altitudes in the different parts of the globe.

Question 16

____________ led the studies of the Andean Altipano of Peru.

Question 17

____________ studied the diversity of high altitude adaptations in Bolivia and the Tibetan highlands.

Question 18

____________ was a Sherpa guide who travelled with mountaineers to climb Mount Everest.

Question 19

____________ was a New Zealand mountaineer who first climbed Mount Everest.

Question 20

____________ was the first to ride a hydrogen balloon to a high altitude and suffer the consequences.